Used 2003 Saturn VUE Consumer Reviews
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One owner single woman!
Love this car. Purchased brand new and have driven for 11 years. Saturn should have never stopped building these. Update. Sold the car2 years ago. Great car. I now own a Jaguar XJL and love it too.
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Worst Car I Have Ever Owned
I purchased the 2003 model in 2009 without doing my homework. 13 months later (after the one year warranty expired) the tranny went out.Cost me 5200 to fix 3wks later the front differential is starting to go out, quoted price:5600 to fix. After new tranny was put in my mpg dropped from approx 13 to approx 6mpg. If I wasn't locked into payments I would have scrap heaped this piece of junk when the tranny went out. Most regretted purchase of my adult life. Saturn/GM dealerships have been useless. Once one problem is expensively fixed another one rears its pricey head.DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY DO NOT BUY!
- Base 4dr SUVMSRP: $4,950372 mi away
- Base 4dr SUVMSRP: $3,290404 mi away
- Base 4dr SUVMSRP: $2,9991,005 mi away
My 3rd Saturn - My "Blue Beast"
I have been remarkably lucky with my 2003 Saturn Vue. I have the base model with the CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission). I have the leather/heat package, which means I have leather topped seats, heated front seats, leather wrapped steering wheel, and the leather topped dash area. My Vue is now 16 years old, and after all the living we've done in it the leather is kind of ratty. The dash, surprisingly, has held up the best, along with the back seat. The two front seats and the steering wheel cracked and peeled, but I also was not truly vigilant about using the leather conditioner after my initial supply ran out. LOL. The "entertainment" package in my car has a tape player believe it or not, but it has a CD player as well. I've never had a bit of trouble out of the players, and the AM/FM radio is pretty standard stuff. OnStar, bluetooth, navigation devices, etc. were still pipe dreams when my car was new. As far as my ownership eperience, I have to say I love my car. It is plenty powerful to get me where I need to go, and I've taken it to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Tennessee with no trouble climbing the inclined roads. We took it on a road trip once where we literally drove 27 hours straight with just stops to hit the drive through and get more gas and it was right there chugging along faithfully. We have exposed it to salt air many, many times and it's never shown any damage to the finish or the performance. It has only gone into the shop for minor issues, though now at 13 years old I need to replace the universal joints on the front axle on both sides. I cannot say too much about how much I love my car. It has been 100% reliable for 13 years of pretty much daily driving, safely transporting me & my family from the beginning when it was purchased specifically because we had a preemie newborn with tons of medical stuff to be lugged around, to now when that boy is a big, active teenager with all of his "gear" needing transportation. I only wish I had the ability to replace my 2003 Saturn with a new one!
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Reliable but noisy
I bought this car new and now have 211,000 miles on it. The thermostat and computer went out under warranty at about 25,000. The water pump went out at about 95,000, so I changed the timing belt at that time and it saved a bunch. Rear right bearing and hub went out at about 180,000. The big issue has been the tires. The rear tires get eaten up for some reason and get very noisy. I have to rotate the tires every 5000 to minimize this issue. The SUV is noisy in general, but most SUVs are. The vehicle is not smooth in acceleration or response to the throttle, it is jerky. But at the same time I have not had to do much to it for 211,000 miles of use! Front bearing and hub needed now.
Good Reliable Vehicle
I have had this car since September of 2002 and have put over 105,000 miles on it. I just recently had my 100k mile service done and did have a few things to replace (wheel bearings, strut, brakes/brake pads) but up until this point it has been nothing but basic maintenance. I change my oil regularly every 3k-4k miles and have gone on quite a few 1000+ mile trips with no problems at all. I've also lived in cold wintery climates and it was a dream to drive in the snow. The VUE will definitely be on my list for my next new car.